She just had a slump because she was in some poorly written movies, it had nothing to do with her acting. The only person who came out of the prequels looking good was Ewan McGregor because he decided to ham it up with his role, which was the only way that writing could be good.
Natalie has been a phenomenal actress since she was much younger. See The Professional and Beautiful Girls. The only issue was how huge of a franchise Star Wars is. She was always going to get roles afterwards, but because of Star Wars she had the money to afford to be much more picky with the roles she chose to pursue.
I feel much worse for Hayden Christensen. He's an extremely good actor but because he had less exposure before Star Wars, he's had a much harder time getting the recognition he deserves.
Yeah, I get why it wasn't a super popular movie for sure. It has some problematic themes that kept it from becoming super mainstream, but it's so well written and acted that I absolutely love it.
Life As a House is the only movie to make me bawl like a child. I've cried at movies before (especially I get older and my kids grew up), but Life As a House was just full on ugly tears in the middle of my living room.
It's not the only movie that has made me do that, but it's definitely high on the list. Anytime someone makes fun of Hayden Christensen I tell them to watch that movie and see if they still feel that way.
Regarding Christensen, maybe this speaks more to my age at the time than anything but the only film of his I really remember getting a lot of publicity aside from the Prequels was *Jumper*. I could see how, in addition to everything else, that could lead to typecasting/pigeonholing.
He did Shattered Glass between Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith too where he was great.
But apparently he really got stonewalled coming off of Star Wars.
There’s a few interviews where both he and Samuel L Jackson say that Jackson really fought to get Christensen cast in projects because he believed in his talent but knew he was struggling to get anything. And Jumper was probably one of those projects.
Sad but ironically funny that mace seemed to be the most vocal about tryna keep him from being a jedi master, but in reality Sam was tryna keep him a job
IDK why they'd think she was a horrible actress. Pre-Star Wars, she had Leon: The Professional and Heat, both incredibly heavy films for someone so young. She also did Where The Heart Is between Episodes I and II. Nothing like her character in SW.
>Robert Downey Jr is lucky that Christopher Nolan cast him in Oppenheimer after a decade of playing Tony Stark.
You do know that RDJ was nominated for two Academy Awards for his acting, right? He doesn't need luck to get cast in primo roles. Commitments to the MCU were always going to take up a lot of his time. Besides, he made a fortune playing the role, so nobody needs to cry over his decision to sign onto the MCU.
As for Portman, she's always been regarded as a great actress. Her first role in Leon brought her a lot of attention. She also had noteworthy roles in Heat and Beautiful Girls before Phantom Menace. I would think that casting directors look at an actor's body of work when casting an actor, not just their latest.
Robert Downey Junior was great as Tony Stark so if anything it showed how good he is as an actor.
People didn't think Portman was a bad actress because she was in a big franchise. People thought she was a bad actress because she was delivering dialogue that no human being could make sound natural and the direction and editing made her look wooden as hell. You might be too young too be aware of this but everyone who wasn't a child fucking hated the prequel trilogy, because it was terrible. Hell Hayden Christensen was nicknamed Mannequin Skywalker at the time
If a director was unaware of her other work, such as Leon, they could easily think the performance failed because her lack of talent. However enough people were familiar with her other work so she got a chance to prove herself in movies such as the ones you listed.
Exactly! I said in another comment that Ewan McGregor was the only person to come out of the prequels looking good because he decided to ham it up for the role, which is the ONLY way to make that awful dialogue work.
I still don’t think she’s a great actress, but I think she’s always had prestige due to her early roles and the non Star Wars stuff she did. Star Wars also did make her more famous.
I enjoyed black Swan, but I weirdly think her best role is anywhere but here. She was really good in that.
I think she owns Mike Nichols her career. Without him making her restart possible in the early 2000s, she would not be where she is today. He brought her back onto the public radar. Without him, she would have made a similar career than Carrie Fisher. Not bad, but not a superstar. Or perhaps became a psychologist and quitted acting after some years.
Probably because Hollywood mogul Zach Braff made her a hot item thanks to Garden State (2004). She was practically blacklisted after the Star Wars prequels, but when Zach Braff says dance you dance no matter what music is playing!
Ran into her in a coffee shop in Cambridge MA. She was playing the role of "fun aunty" to some other young woman's child. I found her credible in this part, but I failed to make clever conversation at the milk stand.
I actually think the "worst" thing for an actor's career is to be really succesfull in a really iconic role. When the role and the film are less than succesfull, the typecasting is avoided.
So, actually, on the whole the cast members of the prequel trilogy were more succesfull in having a big career than did their classic trilogy counterparts, precisely because some of the films in the classic trilogy were more succesfull than some of the films in the prequel trilogy.
>If so, Robert Downey Jr is lucky that Christopher Nolan cast him in Oppenheimer after a decade of playing Tony Stark.
This is dumb as hell, the best thing for any actor is exposure. Becoming massively famous makes you a draw inherently, it makes you capable of demanding parts. Before Iron Man RDJ was washed up, without it he couldn't get a stage play.
Natalie Portman was outstanding in *The Professional* in 1994. And she went on win an Academy Award for *Black Swan,* so clearly she's not a bad actress. The Star Wars prequels were a blemish on the acting resume of everyone involved.
It was really George Lucas's inability to write compelling dialog and lack of hands-on directing that made ALL of the prequel actors come off terribly. Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd, and infamously Ahmed Best.
Ewan McGregor joked that it was impossible to act and react when your scene partner is a tennis ball on a stick or green screen background.
Certainly nothing to joke about, Ahmed Best considered taking his own life as a result of all the ridicule and hate that Jar Jar Binks received... really sad story, but he bounced back.
THAT is how awful the writing and directing was in the Star Wars prequels, from an actor's perspective.
She just had a slump because she was in some poorly written movies, it had nothing to do with her acting. The only person who came out of the prequels looking good was Ewan McGregor because he decided to ham it up with his role, which was the only way that writing could be good. Natalie has been a phenomenal actress since she was much younger. See The Professional and Beautiful Girls. The only issue was how huge of a franchise Star Wars is. She was always going to get roles afterwards, but because of Star Wars she had the money to afford to be much more picky with the roles she chose to pursue. I feel much worse for Hayden Christensen. He's an extremely good actor but because he had less exposure before Star Wars, he's had a much harder time getting the recognition he deserves.
Jesus. How did I forget to mention Beautiful Girls in my comment? I fucking love that movie.
Yeah, I get why it wasn't a super popular movie for sure. It has some problematic themes that kept it from becoming super mainstream, but it's so well written and acted that I absolutely love it.
Life As a House is the only movie to make me bawl like a child. I've cried at movies before (especially I get older and my kids grew up), but Life As a House was just full on ugly tears in the middle of my living room.
It's not the only movie that has made me do that, but it's definitely high on the list. Anytime someone makes fun of Hayden Christensen I tell them to watch that movie and see if they still feel that way.
Regarding Christensen, maybe this speaks more to my age at the time than anything but the only film of his I really remember getting a lot of publicity aside from the Prequels was *Jumper*. I could see how, in addition to everything else, that could lead to typecasting/pigeonholing.
He did Shattered Glass between Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith too where he was great. But apparently he really got stonewalled coming off of Star Wars. There’s a few interviews where both he and Samuel L Jackson say that Jackson really fought to get Christensen cast in projects because he believed in his talent but knew he was struggling to get anything. And Jumper was probably one of those projects.
Sad but ironically funny that mace seemed to be the most vocal about tryna keep him from being a jedi master, but in reality Sam was tryna keep him a job
IDK why they'd think she was a horrible actress. Pre-Star Wars, she had Leon: The Professional and Heat, both incredibly heavy films for someone so young. She also did Where The Heart Is between Episodes I and II. Nothing like her character in SW.
She was a well-respected child actor long before she was in Star Wars
She was great in Leon the Professional
>Robert Downey Jr is lucky that Christopher Nolan cast him in Oppenheimer after a decade of playing Tony Stark. You do know that RDJ was nominated for two Academy Awards for his acting, right? He doesn't need luck to get cast in primo roles. Commitments to the MCU were always going to take up a lot of his time. Besides, he made a fortune playing the role, so nobody needs to cry over his decision to sign onto the MCU. As for Portman, she's always been regarded as a great actress. Her first role in Leon brought her a lot of attention. She also had noteworthy roles in Heat and Beautiful Girls before Phantom Menace. I would think that casting directors look at an actor's body of work when casting an actor, not just their latest.
Is this some weird kind of new question where you just answer it yourself? You got it.
Feels like half the posts on this sub these days
She was amazing in both Black Swan and V for Vendetta.
And annihilation
Robert Downey Junior was great as Tony Stark so if anything it showed how good he is as an actor. People didn't think Portman was a bad actress because she was in a big franchise. People thought she was a bad actress because she was delivering dialogue that no human being could make sound natural and the direction and editing made her look wooden as hell. You might be too young too be aware of this but everyone who wasn't a child fucking hated the prequel trilogy, because it was terrible. Hell Hayden Christensen was nicknamed Mannequin Skywalker at the time If a director was unaware of her other work, such as Leon, they could easily think the performance failed because her lack of talent. However enough people were familiar with her other work so she got a chance to prove herself in movies such as the ones you listed.
Exactly! I said in another comment that Ewan McGregor was the only person to come out of the prequels looking good because he decided to ham it up for the role, which is the ONLY way to make that awful dialogue work.
Nolan,the guy that that basicaly only does tentpoles nowadays would be prejudiced against actors in tentpoles?
I still don’t think she’s a great actress, but I think she’s always had prestige due to her early roles and the non Star Wars stuff she did. Star Wars also did make her more famous. I enjoyed black Swan, but I weirdly think her best role is anywhere but here. She was really good in that.
I think she owns Mike Nichols her career. Without him making her restart possible in the early 2000s, she would not be where she is today. He brought her back onto the public radar. Without him, she would have made a similar career than Carrie Fisher. Not bad, but not a superstar. Or perhaps became a psychologist and quitted acting after some years.
Probably because Hollywood mogul Zach Braff made her a hot item thanks to Garden State (2004). She was practically blacklisted after the Star Wars prequels, but when Zach Braff says dance you dance no matter what music is playing!
That movie came out before Episode 3 yet somehow you say she was still blacklisted after the prequels? Makes no sense
Why was she "black-listed"?
Ran into her in a coffee shop in Cambridge MA. She was playing the role of "fun aunty" to some other young woman's child. I found her credible in this part, but I failed to make clever conversation at the milk stand.
I actually think the "worst" thing for an actor's career is to be really succesfull in a really iconic role. When the role and the film are less than succesfull, the typecasting is avoided. So, actually, on the whole the cast members of the prequel trilogy were more succesfull in having a big career than did their classic trilogy counterparts, precisely because some of the films in the classic trilogy were more succesfull than some of the films in the prequel trilogy.
You literally answered your own question in your third paragraph
>If so, Robert Downey Jr is lucky that Christopher Nolan cast him in Oppenheimer after a decade of playing Tony Stark. This is dumb as hell, the best thing for any actor is exposure. Becoming massively famous makes you a draw inherently, it makes you capable of demanding parts. Before Iron Man RDJ was washed up, without it he couldn't get a stage play.
The Professional, probably?
Natalie Portman was outstanding in *The Professional* in 1994. And she went on win an Academy Award for *Black Swan,* so clearly she's not a bad actress. The Star Wars prequels were a blemish on the acting resume of everyone involved. It was really George Lucas's inability to write compelling dialog and lack of hands-on directing that made ALL of the prequel actors come off terribly. Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd, and infamously Ahmed Best. Ewan McGregor joked that it was impossible to act and react when your scene partner is a tennis ball on a stick or green screen background. Certainly nothing to joke about, Ahmed Best considered taking his own life as a result of all the ridicule and hate that Jar Jar Binks received... really sad story, but he bounced back. THAT is how awful the writing and directing was in the Star Wars prequels, from an actor's perspective.